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Tuesday, 1 March 2011

Forget the ephemera of Hollywood and the tintinnabulations of tinseltown -- the IPKat can reveal to his readers the identitiesof the five good souls who have gained admission to the Intellectual Property Hall of Fame. As a member of the Hall of Fame Academy,which picks each year's honorees, this IPKat team member is delighted to say that he sometimes gets at least one, if not two, right ...

The 2011 newbies are as follows (in alphabetical order, and on the basis that Tian Lipu goes under 'L' and not 'T'):

Robert A. Armitage

Robert Armitage, senior VP and general counsel for Eli Lilly, has been described as "the intellectual soul and chief architect driving the five-year effort to reform US patent law". Beginning with his efforts as President of the American Intellectual Property Law Association (AIPLA) to initiate the reform of US patent law and continuing with his many appearances before Congress and other policy-making bodies to offer his insightful commentary on the best practices to include in any patent reform bill, Armitage’s tireless efforts are said to have brought the United States closer to achieving this elusive goal than any other living US lawyer.

Lynne Beresford

Commissioner of Trademarks for the United States Patent and Trademark Office, Lynne has. chaired every meeting of the World Intellectual Property Organizations’ Standing Committee on Trademarks, Industrial Designs, and Geographical Indications from its inception in 1997 until late 2001. Dedicated to the mission of improving the U.S. Trademark Office's ability to serve its customers, she has succeeded by improving the professionalism of its staff and the standard and quality of services offered.

Donald Chisum

Donald S. Chisum is the eponymous author of the treatise Chisum on Patents, a comprehensive multi-volume treatise covering all aspects of US patent law which was first published in 1978. Chisum continues to update the treatise on a daily basis. Positions held include professor of law at the University of Washington from 1969 to 1996 and professor of law at Santa Clara University (California) from 1997 to 2006.

Tian Lipu

Since he became Commissioner of the Chinese Patent Office he has lifted it into one of the top ranking patent offices. As the new Commissioner he was faced with a small and inexperienced group of examiners facing a growing flood of applications. He has grown rapidly the body of examiners, putting them through rigorous training. He has also sought, and received, a lot of technical assistance from outside, especially Europe. Today the Chinese Patent Office (SIPO) is coping with a greater number of applications than the USPTO receives and is a serious player alongside the other major IP offices.

Randall Rader

As a long-time member of the Federal Circuit Court of Appeals, Judge Rader has demonstrated a keen knowledge of intellectual property law and has firmly upheld the value of patents in his decisions. As Chief Judge of the Federal Circuit, he is expected to continue to make a significant impact on US intellectual property law. He's also pretty entertaining when he speaks at the Fordham IP Conference.